A bit of a confession to start: I am obsessed with watching other people clean and tidy online. There’s something really soothing about watching someone else do work while I lounge with my laptop or phone and think about what I need to do and it often leads to me getting up and getting some things done.

Now, the genre has a lot of options but I tend to watch longer form videos that don’t presume to show a 4 hour work session in 60 seconds but also has good, upbeat music and less commentary.

(Maybe I’m just weird but I have little to no interest in listening to someone with a McMansion whine about how hard it is to clean. Skip!)

While showing my own space on the interwebs or myself cleaning is not at all in the plans, I did want to encourage you to try a cleaning time lapse yourself.

Here’s how it works:

1. Set up a computer or cell phone in one room to record, make sure its got battery life or plug it in.
2. Focus your cleaning on that section of the room/house and set a time for 30-60 minutes.
3. When you’re done watch the footage back and then keep or delete as needed.

When you’re doing a cleaning time lapse, you don’t need to show it to anyone or (god-forbid) post it on the internet. But it can be helpful to see the transformation and how you’re working.

By staying focused on one area, you’ll see a bigger impact. There are times for wandering around and putting stuff away in different rooms, but there’s power in focusing all that energy in a smaller space.

When you film, you may also see some patterns. I learned this watching cleaning videos when the voiceover comes in to say “oh this is where I got distracted by a flyer and spent 20 minutes looking up information online” or “I tried spot cleaning this pillow but eventually I just took off the cover and threw it in the washing machine.”

It’s almost like having a supervisor be there while we clean to point out our inconsistencies or inefficiencies. And, let’s be real, no one wants a cleaning supervisor.

If you’re absolutely opposed to video, at least begin and end with pictures taken in the same spot. Doing so can help you see the differences and even what still needs to be done.

Many times I’ve taken a “great” after picture only to realize:

• the rug is really dirty
• those flowers in the vase are totally dead
• I’ve left a bag of trash just over there
• the picture frames could use a good dusting

Give it a try the next time you set aside some time to clean!